Brutality Will Prevail: Scatter The Ashes

Hardcore crew’s brilliance shines through the gloom

The third album from this doom-drenched hardcore quintet does South Wales proud. While their sound pulls on everything from sludge to metal, their hearts seem to lie with the DIY punk ethic and their releases have been largely self-funded and self-released.

Life Lines opens with a Southern rock flavour, but the rest of the album is seeped in quality riffs, and thick, heavy grooves. Meanwhile, Ajay Jones’s deliberately grating vocals are a mix of frustration and menace, clawing through and complementing the crushing guitar work perfectly. His delivery during the poignant, downtempo closing track is hypnotic.

Cutting through the brooding ambience are the more furious and immediate tracks like Casket, Second Sight and The Path, and Alan Douches’ (Converge, Mastodon) mix has brought out the best in a band who have remained undeservedly in the shadows until now.